Owatonna Boys Win Soccer Section Title in Overtime

The Huskies had the momentum but still trailed late against Farmington in the Section 1AA title match Tuesday. Their pressure paid off with a 2-1 overtime victory.

Senior Mitch Mayer converted a free kick with 3:30 left in regulation to tie the game at 1-1. Coach Bob Waypa said afterward that Mayer had been working on free kicks in practice. The strong finish carried over into overtime. Owatonna had several close chances in the extra session. Then a long pass was lobbed to Abukar Fakrudin, who spun away from his defender and put the ball past the keeper for the 2-1 victory.

Senior goalkeeper Aidan Buryska made several spectacular saves, which has been one of the stories of the season for Owatonna. The section title is the Huskies' third in the past five years. The quarterfinal round at state is next week. Opponents, times and locations will be announced over the weekend.

Girls tennis

At the Section 1AA individual tournament, Owatonna's doubles team of Caitlin Anderson and Gabi Deml ran into a couple of tough Rochester Mayo teams, according to coach Curt Matejcek. They ended their season with 25 wins. Emily Rahrick won her second match and was in line for a true second match until the top seed got upset. Rahrick finished with 23 wins.

Cross country

At the Big Nine meet at Brooktree, the Owatonna boys finished in third place. Braydon Kubat was second individually. The OHS girls were ninth. Red Wing won both varsity races.

Volleyball

Owatonna wrapped up their regular season Tuesday with a 3-1 loss at Mankato West. Set scores were 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-14. Lexi Langeland had about 15 kills and four service aces. Sydney Schultz had about 16 kills. The Section 1AAA tournament begins Wednesday. Owatonna should host a match in Medford that night.